Amaryllidaceae

This tropical flowering plant endemic to Africa, and is one of the most widely spread bulbous species in the region. Due to its elongated flowering head, it is easily transported by the wind, resembling tumbleweeds in the mid-West. While the plant has been used in traditional medicine to treat pain and wounds, its bulb is also highly poisonous and was once used by Bushmen to prepare poisoned arrowheads. This plant is also know as the “sore-eye flower” as it can cause sore eyes and headaches, and contains the compound buphanine, which can cause agitation, hallucination, and coma.

The Live Plant Collections consist of over eight hundred unique species of plants from all over the world.